New Amsterdam Plein & Pavilion
The Plein and Pavilion was designed to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Henry Hudson's arrival in New York.
The New Amsterdam Plein & Pavilion is a new public space in New York City, located at Peter Minuit Plaza in Battery Park City. It was designed in collaboration with Dutch firm UNStudio.
In January 2009, the mayor of Amsterdam, Marius Job Cohen, and the mayor of New York, Michael R. Bloomberg, joined forces to announce NYC 400, a yearlong celebration of the 400th anniversary of Henry Hudson’s arrival in New York Harbor in 1609. As part of this year of special events, the New Amsterdam Plein & Pavilion was proposed. The Plaza is named for the enterprising Dutch Director-General who in 1626 consolidated the early settlements at the tip of Manhattan into what was then known as New Amsterdam.
The project includes a landscaped intermodal transportation hub, where bicycles, buses, subway and water transportation intersect with cultural offerings. The site is intended to serve as an “outdoor living room” for spontaneous and scheduled activities, public markets, seating and shade, and an iconic state-of-the-art pavilion for food and information.